Story Highlights

WESTFIELD – Andrew Luck’s arm is healthier than it’s been in years. Jacoby Brissett’s immeasurably more comfortable this time around. And Quenton Nelson, he of an immovable 330 pounds, could be the best rookie offensive lineman this team’s had in a decade, maybe longer.

Those are the things we know, 11 practices into training camp, about these new-look, new-feel Indianapolis Colts. Throw in the fact that Marlon Mack’s about to rush for 1,500 yards (if you believe the owner, that is) and you’ve got plenty of positives coming from the offensive side of the ball.

One pressing question we can’t answer, not yet at least: Is the defense going to be any good?

We’ll start to find out more come Thursday night in Seattle, where the Colts will open the 2018 preseason against the Seahawks.

It’ll be our first glimpse at new coordinator Matt Eberflus’ 4-3 scheme, a unit that, on paper at least, lacks firepower at every level. There is no alpha dog pass-rusher, an absolute mandate in this system. There’s no Dwight Freeney or Robert Mathis lining up on the edge, able to flip a game in a matter of moments. There is no bone-crushing linebacker who can set the tone in the middle of the field. And there is certainly no shut-down corner, not yet at least.

Could this change? Sure. Things change fast in this league. But the reality is this: Two of the Colts’ best defensive players have spent the bulk of training camp on the sideline, nursing knee injuries that kept them off the field all spring and summer. When Malik Hooker, the ball-hawking safety, and Clayton Geathers, the bruising hitter, return, the unit will be whole again.

But it remains a very real possibility that the defense struggles this fall.

CLOSE

Indianapolis Colts players say they still have some work to do.
Clark Wade/IndyStar

Typically, the go-to line through the early weeks of training camp is that the defense is ahead of the offense. That line does not apply this year with the Indianapolis Colts. Not even close. Luck and Brissett have carved up this secondary for weeks. Anyone who’s watched a handful of training camp practices will tell you the same thing.

Receivers and tight ends are routinely finding themselves wide open, day after day after day. And there might be a whole lot more of that come the fall, when the games start to count and opposing coordinators know where to attack.

So, after another steamy training camp session, I asked the man overseeing the operation – Eberflus – for an honest assessment of his unit.

At first, he danced around the question, explaining that the coaches are looking for two traits at this stage: effort and execution. He talked about how he’s been showing the players film of the teams that mastered this defense in the past, like Tony Dungy’s early 2000s Buccaneers, Lovie Smith’s mid-2000s Chicago Bears, even Eberflus’ units in Dallas the past handful of years.

OK. That’s great and all, but what about the execution?

This time, Eberflus was more direct

“The execution has been OK. There are certainly a lot of errors this time early in training camp. We certainly are a day-to-day process of cleaning that up.”

And they will be for a while. What made those defenses hum were the greats that spearheaded the unit. The Bucs lined up Warren Sapp on the line, Derrick Brooks at linebacker and John Lynch in the back end. The Bears were led by Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs and Charles Tillman. The Cowboys have DeMarcus Lawrence and Sean Lee.

The first-team defense they’ll likely start in Seattle will feature two rookie linebackers (Darius Leonard and Skai Moore), two unheralded cornerbacks (Kenny Moore and Pierre Desir) and two safeties (Matthias Farley and T.J. Green) that aren’t expect to start come Week 1. One notable first-team snub from the unofficial depth chart the Colts released over the weekend was Quincy Wilson, the second-round pick at cornerback in 2017 who plodded through a humbling rookie season before vowing a change in attitude ahead of Year 2.

If you’ve watched training camp, Wilson’s snub isn’t that much of a surprise. Both Desir and Moore have outplayed him.

“The secondary is a work in progress, like the rest of the defense,” Eberflus said. “The pieces aren’t in place there, because a couple of guys are out,” he added, referencing Hooker and Geathers.

Central to the secondary’s success – and the defense as a whole – is the line. The pass rush is even more paramount in this scheme, and instead of having to create it, like they have in the 3-4 the past six years, the Colts will simplify the entire process. Essentially: Get to the quarterback by any means necessary. That falls on the shoulders of Jabaal Sheard and John Simon, two proven league veterans, and sophomore Tarell Basham, who has repeatedly professed a comfort in returning to the system he starred in while in college.

“The system I was raised in,” Basham beamed this summer. “It’s a rush-and-cover defense, and we gotta be able to rush for those guys to cover.”

Basham has flashed at times in camp thus far, but the truest gauge of his progress at defensive end will come in the preseason games, when he’ll actually be allowed to hit (and sack) the quarterback. Curiously, he was left off the first-team defense on that unofficial depth chart in favor of rookie Kemoko Turay. Basham’s spent the bulk of camp running with the first-team; Simon has spent the bulk with the second-team. Turay’s missed the last week due to injury.

Posted!

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.

Indianapolis Colts linebacker Jeremiah George (59) cools himself off before their practice even starts during the Colts training camp at Grand Park in Westfield on Monday, August 6, 2018. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Indianapolis Colts defensive end Jabaal Sheard (93) works with pass rush consultant Robert Mathis during the Colts training camp at Grand Park in Westfield on Monday, August 6, 2018. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) lets other know how many other offensive players he plays with during the Colts training camp at Grand Park in Westfield on Monday, August 6, 2018. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Indianapolis Colts defensive end Denico Autry (95) works with pass rush consultant Robert Mathis during the Colts training camp at Grand Park in Westfield on Monday, August 6, 2018. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

One plus for the Colts so far: They’ll have a veteran leading the unit from the middle of the defense. Najee Goode, a member of last year’s world champion Philadelphia Eagles, saw up close how menacing Eberflus’ scheme can be when it's run with the right type of playmakers.

“I played against that Dallas defense a lot when it was ranked first and second in the league and they were going 13-3,” Goode said, “and the one thing I like about it so far is it’s less thinking. We got calls that we execute. Just go get (the QB).”

Sounds simple enough. Executing it won’t be.

Then Goode is asked about this unit as a whole, the inexperience of so many players, the unfamiliarity in the new system, the unknowns of it all.

That gets us back to the central question at hand: Is this defense going to be any good this fall?

He nods. He knows what's being said out there.

“There’s a lot to be proven,” Goode said. “Them dudes, they all got a chip on their shoulder. You hear about us not being respected, we hear the (expletive) they talk. We like that.”